AGVs & Automated Warehouse Equipment
Warehouses increasingly use driverless vehicles, mobile robots, sorters and automated storage and retrieval systems. They reduce lifting and driving, but they move without a human in the cab, and workers must know how to share space with them.
- Warehouse
- Maintenance
- Supervisors
Types
- Automated guided vehicles (AGVs): follow set paths using wires, tape, magnets or lasers.
- Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs): navigate with sensors and maps and can steer around obstacles.
- Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS): cranes or shuttles that store and fetch pallets or totes.
- Conveyors, sorters and robotic pickers. See Conveyors and Robots & Automation.
Hazards
- Collisions with people and powered industrial trucks when paths cross.
- Pinch and crush points at lifts, shuttles and conveyors.
- Unexpected movement when a machine restarts or is remotely commanded.
- Falling loads from racks and vehicles.
- Entering a cell to clear a jam without locking out. See Clearing Jams.
- Battery and charging hazards. See Battery Safety.
Safe design and zones
- Separate human and automated areas with fences, floor marking, gates or light curtains. See Safeguarding Devices.
- Use vehicles with obstacle sensors, bumpers, warning lights and alarms, and speeds set for the area.
- Provide emergency stops that are reachable and clearly labeled. See Emergency Stops.
- Interlock access gates so opening one stops the equipment in the area.
- Follow standards for industrial robots and mobile robots such as ANSI/RIA R15.08 and ANSI/ITSDF B56.5.
Worker rules
- Complete training for the specific system before working near it
- Stay out of marked robot lanes unless the system is stopped or locked
- Never assume a vehicle sees you; make eye contact with drivers and wait for stops
- Use the proper entry procedure and lockout for maintenance. See Group Lockout
- Report damaged sensors, missing guards or unusual movement
- Do not ride on vehicles or climb on equipment
Standards & references
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